Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Star Wars Rogue One Reshoots: These Aren’t the Reshoots You’re Looking For

News dropped two days ago that Star Wars Rogue One’s first
cut had not impressed Disney Executives, and the film was going to undergo
expensive reshoots. The story came from one article on Page
Six, which did break the story about Alden Ehrenreich becoming the new Han
Solo. The article reads like a propaganda piece to try and make the movie seem
like it is in massive trouble. Today news dropped from The
Hollywood Reporter that the film is undergoing reshoots to try and lighten
the mood of the film, and make it match more of the tone with Star Wars: A New
Hope.

What are we to make of each of these articles? The first is
that reshoots happen all the time for big blockbuster productions. Episode
Seven went through reshoots. All of the Marvel Film go through reshoots. It is
standard practice for films to go through reshoots, and time is scheduled with
everyone on the cast to make sure they can be accomplished. This is also a Star
Wars film, so I would expect reshoots to be expensive. One thing, which is troubling,
is the length of the reshoots. Four weeks is a long time to go back and work on
the film, but it is still not unheard of for a big blockbuster.

I don’t think there is really reason for concern as far as
reshooting some of the film. The other article which talked about a tonal shift
is more of a red flag. Star Wars Rogue One should be different. It should have
a different tone than other Star Wars films. I want a darker grittier war
story. Granted the source for the article could just be doing damage and spin
control from the previous leak, which I think is probably case. Then I wonder
why state they are making a tonal shift. They should have stuck to their guns
saying reshoots were always going to happen, and they are just tightening
things up for the film. Different types of films in the same universe can have different
tones. Antman has very different tone than Captain America Civil War. In that
same light the Marvel television shows on Netflix are vastly different than the
movies and they are set in the same universe. A different tone can and should
work for this movie. A major audience is going to show up and watch the film,
regardless of the tone.

This also could be a nonstory all around. The reshoots were
planned, they wanted to change a few things, and the movie will be great. The
trailer got me excited, and it is still my most anticipated film of the year.
Maybe both of the sources talked too aren’t credible. Maybe they are, but
websites around the world need people to click on their stories, so the more “in
trouble” the film seems the better. The second article could be spin control,
but it’s poor spin control if it is, which makes me think the source isn’t
reliable. Disney and Lucasfilm haven’t come out officially and spoke about the
reshoots. It’s all been from “sources” at Disney and “studio insiders.” It could
all be true, but I have a heavy amount of skepticism when the driving force for
most websites is to drive up site traffic by making sensational headlines.
These sources may have even told them this information, but the sites are
phrasing it in a way to exaggerate the truth.

I’m not blind to my bias though. I am a Star Wars nut, and I
want this movie to be great. I have high hopes, and after loving Episode Seven
I think Lucasfilm knows what they are doing in approaching the new films. So I
want to spin this to say there is nothing to see here. We don’t have anything
to worry about because reshoots are part of movie business and the reshoots
will just enhance the already great film Gareth Edwards has put together.

What do you think? Are you worried after reading either of
these articles and what has been said about the film? Do you want a tonally different
film? Comment and let me know.